Cale Barakus
Cale Barakus has served as a member of Tango Squadron for close to a century. During countless missions on countless battlefields Barakus has proven to be a master of heavy weapons and the most proficient individual with explosives in Tango Squadron. The rank of Corporal places him above the common trooper within the Unit, however he still answers to his superiors in Coletrane and Vasquez. Barakus acts like the perfect soldier in following orders despite the occasion when he interprets his given orders in a different way to his superiors. As a member of the Cadian 715th Shock Trooper Regiment Barakus earned the nickname of 'Buster' for his uncanny ability to destroy or disable tanks and armoured vehicles by targeting the weakest points with explosives. A crime of vengeance against the murderers of most of his family and retribution against two Imperial Guardsmen after they killed his only surviving brother led to Cale 'Buster' Barakus being sent to the 5th and stationed with Tango Squadron. Personnel Profile *'Full Name:' Cale Mark Barakus *'Serial Number:' 2617-a719j *'Homeworld:' Cadia *'Crimes:' Nine counts of Murder. One count against an Imperial Guard Lieutenant, One count against an Imperial Guard Trooper, Seven counts against Civilians. A Guilty plea was given for all Nine counts. *'Height:' 6' 1" *'Weight:' 187lbs *'Defining Features:' **Lean Muscular Build **Scar on forehead above right eye **Multiple Scars across chest and arms from shrapnel **Close cropped hair with Hollywoodian beard **Imperial Aquila tattooed across shoulders on back **5 Scars tattoed on right arm in memorial of family **Serial Number behind Left Ear *'Threat Level Evaluation:' Medium to High, Dangerous when provoked only *'Prisoner Transport Recommendations:' No Restraint Necessary *'Flight Risk:' Barakus has made no attempts to escape nor appears to desire to do so. He has made it clear he has little to lose and has more trust in the 5th than in the regular Regiments. Summary of selected Crimes *'Murder 1 to 7:' Killed all seven members of a rival family, who were responsible for the death of his mother, father, one of his brothers and only sister. Plead Guilty and only received temporary imprisonment due to guilt of those he murdered. *'Murder 8 and 9:' Killed a Lieutenant and another trooper who accidently killed his brother in a brawl. Plead guilty and was transfered to the 5th Penal Legion for murdering a superior officer. Biography Early Life & Career before the 5th Cale Barakus was born to his father who was a Cadian Guardsmen at the rank of Sergeant within the 715th Shock Trooper Regiment and his mother who was a Medic within the same regiment. Born on the planet of Hartes VI while the 715th was on a tour of duty he was raised within the regiment as a Whiteshield. Cale was joined by 2 more siblings while touring with the regiment, younger brothers Darrien Barakus and Sean Barakus. From the age of 4 years and till the age of 9 Cale assisted the regiment on Hartes VI by completing the menial tasks other troopers didnt. Several weeks after his 9th birthday the 715th regiment was replaced by the 682nd regiment and shipped back to Cadia for rest and resupply. On returning to Cadia Cale's mother gave birth to his fourth sibling, a sister named Lara Barakus. At this time his mother decided to cease serving within the Cadian Imperial Guard and raise her children on their homeworld. Their father returned to the 715th and his duties mere months after Lara was born. It would be several years before he returned to his family again. Left behind with his family Clae Barakus quickly got bored, longing for the combat and companionship within the regiment he was born into despite his young age. Often he and his brothers of 7 years and 5 years respectively on returning to Cadia, got themselves into trouble. The Barakus children continued like this until each of them were of age and began proper training with the Imperial Guard stationed on Cadia. When his father returned to Cadia again after Cale had already turned 17 years of age so did Corporal Pyre, a rival of his father's who blamed him for the death of a friend. Whether this was true or not was never known to Cale however this was the beginning of a rivalry that would lead to the greatest tragedy of his life. Several altercations occured between the 2 families over the allegations with only minor incidents and nothing too severe. When the 715th set out again less than a year after returning both Cale and Darrien Barakus were inducted into the ranks and left with them having already successfully completed basic training, while their father retired from active service and stayed with the remainder of the family. Crime of Vengeance Career with the 5th Penal Legion Personality & Traits Personality Barakus is a strong willed and stubborn man. Once he has made a decision to do something he will generally do so regardless of the consequences as he believes what he does is either the right thing to do or done for the right reasons. This is the main reason for his convictions. He is also a man who has developed a true mean streak over the years. Any individual who does him wrong will sooner or later suffer his vengeance as he will not forget. Despite all the hardships and tragedy suffered, Cale Barakus has not lost his sense of humour. This is one of the reasons he works so well with Vasquez. This same sense of humour, the ability to have a joke in the middle of a firefight, leads most people to believe hes lost it. This is true to an extent due to the length of time he has spent with other men who are already a bit crazy. The Corporal has a great trust in the members of Tango Squadron for various reasons and a mutual respect with many. More than once a 'Buster' explosive has saved members of Tango, or another Squad member has given him the necessary cover and back up to rush in close with a grenade or his Melta. Towards Imperial Guard regiments other than the 5th, Cale has nothing but contempt. In situations when mutual co-operation is required he will only assist as much as necessary. Within his own Regiment and Tango Squadron he is the perfect soldier and follows orders as they are given to him out of respect for those giving the orders. Barakus believes that each order given to him is open to interpretation. He will always follow the orders but only in the way he sees them. For Coletrane to successfully give an exact order to him is very difficult. It was once joked between Tango members that it once took Deek 6 and a half hours to give a specific instruction for Buster to place enough explosives along a fortress wall's length to blow a hole for armoured support to move through, and not to bring attention to himself. When the explosives detonated and the enemy HQ building blew up as well Barakus argued "well you didnt tell me not find a way in and blow up their leaders as well." Physical Traits Cale Barakus is not a large man but not small either. With his lean muscular build he is able to move at speeds larger men arent able to, and fight with a strength smaller men cannot acheive however he is not a strong as a large man nor as fast as man who is smaller. His body has many scars across its surface mainly, on the front, from shrapnel bombs. Burn scars and callouses are numerous across his lower arms and hands, from the many explosive devices that have misfired or chemicals that have been spilled. At heart Cale is a good natured man and this can be seen on his face and in his actions when not in combat. When battle arises the man becomes much more fierce, the look in his eyes turns colder and no emotion moves through his face. This leads people to believe he is a heartless killer like many others but rather he cannot allow himself to get distracted by pointless emotions. Due to the large amounts of warp travel involved while serving with Tango Squadron as part of the 5th Penal Legion, Barakus barely appears to have aged more than 5 to 10 years and looks to be roughly 33 standard years of age. Despite appearances Cale is over a century old and equally experienced. Relationship with Tango *'Deacon Coletrane:' Cale considers Deacon to be a smart and ruthless man, nevertheless he has a fair amount of respect for the man. Deek has saved Cale on several occasions and visa versa and for that Cale has decided to follow as long as he leads. The bond of being both of Cadian blood holds both men as close as brothers in Tango, Deek always pushing Cale to exceed expectations and prove his value as a Cadian. *'Virgil Vasquez:' Frost is the man within Tango that Cale considers himself to be closest friends with. Virgil has a sense of humour that Cale understands and it is this more than anything that holds them together. Out of all the members in the unit, Frost is the only one Cale can stand being around all the time. *'Fredric Aslk:' To Cale, Fredric is a man with many uses. Despite his lack of a sense of humour and inability to comprehend sarcasm Barakus will always watch his back. Unlike other members of Tango he can appreciate some of the things the Tech Preist has done. Cale's trigger happy attitude and joy with blowing up armoured vehicles is often a sore point between the two. Many times he has blown up a tank or two just to annoy Aslk. *'Raynor P'tar:' The one man within the Squadron that Cale has never gotten a good read on. Despite serving together for decades their differing combat styles means they dont often fight under the same terms and dont spend much time together. All Cale needs to know is Ray is damn good at getting them where they need to go without being seen. *'Jared Richter:' One man within Tango that Cale has no respect for. In Cale's view cowards are worse scum than the enemy and deserve death far more. Despite his views he will not touch the boy and will still continue to look after him during combat situations simply to protect his own honour. *'Liana LeGuie:' Cale watches over Liana as often as necessary, without her noticing. He is harsh and tough to her face while subtely teaching her about the art of explosives. He sees a lot of potential and lets her believe she knows more about demolition and explosives despite Deek referring to him in those situations rather than Liana. *'Rugar Lazarus:' Being a Cadian, Cale expects so much more out of Rugar than most members of the squad. He is treated with the same harshness that Deek treated him with for being of Cadian birth, twice as much for the Private being a medic and spending more time saving lives than killing them. Despite that the older Corporal will still be the first to step up and support Lazarus in a brawl. *'Cole Dunbar:' Cale doesn't mind Cole too much. The Cadian knows of his history but hasnt shared his own exploits and the contempt he himself has for officers and guardsmen outside the 5th. More than once Cale has blown a hideout then sat back as each survivor was picked off by Tango's sniper. He feels comfortable knowing there is a bit of long range support covering him, regardless of this, the Corporal still watches his back in case Cole mistakes him for a commissioned officer. *'Oscar:' Cale loves the little dog almost as much as he did his own one back home. In his mind the smartest thing deek ever did was pick up their mascot by accident and the smartest thing Fred did was convince him to keep it. Despite having no luck so far in teaching Oscar any tricks he'll still try. Skills and Equipment Skills *'Cadian Combat Training:' **'Hand to hand combat:' Is not the greatest in unarmed combat but still capable of holding his own against someone his own size. With knife or blade fighting or in close quarters firefights he has trained extensively preferring to rely on the tools at hand. **'Long range weaponry:' This involves mainly the use of the Lasgun. Despite no longer using a lasgun he is still capable of dismantling, cleaning and reloading the weapon like he uses it every day. **'Heavy weapons:' This involves the use of Mortars, Autocannons, Heavy Bolters and Missile Launchers. This was the area Barakus was focusing a vast amount of effort before joining the 5th. **'Explosives and demolition:' An area of training where Cale showed a particular aptitude. It didnt take long for him to figure out how to create his own explosives and before long had a greater knowledge than his Trainers. *'Advanced Explosives Training:' When they realised the extensive knowledge and ability with explosive devices, his superiors in the 715th chose to transfer Barakus to a specialist demolitions unit. Through the senior members of the unit and experience while serving with them he learnt many new tricks and tactics to build, deploy and modify bombs, charges and grenades. *'Basic Medical Training:' Dealing with his own cuts, abrasions, breaks and burns has taught Barakus how to tend to many injuries. As such he acts as a field medic to Tango Squadron as a secondary task to his primarys of Demolitions and Close Quarters Firefights. Equipment *'Standard Issue Cadian Flak Vest, Shirt, Pants, Cap and Boots:' When transfered to the 5th Penal Legion Barakus chose to continue using his gear from the 715th shock trooper regiment. The cap was an addition taken from a fallen captain after joining the 5th. *'Standard Issue Cadian combat knife:' From the body of his fallen brother he took this knife. This is still the same knife he used to murder the Lieutenant who killed his brother in a brawl. *'Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades Melta Bombs and Demolition Charges:' Cale is never without a good supply of explosives. as well as the many self-made variants he uses, he ensures there is always an explosive for every task required which could involve anything from bringing down a building to blowing holes in tanks. *'Promethium Grenades:' A relatively new item added to Barakus' arsenal. After seeing the damage the grenades did while in the hands of a standard regiment, he flogged a stash to use himself. A favourite trick of his is to strap a few together, attach a fuse and drop it in the middle of his targets then standing back and watching as everything burns. *'Ultima Pattern Meltagun:' This weapon was not one he used prior to joining Tango Squadron. After only 3 years in the 5th he picked up the Meltagun off a fallen trooper after his Lasgun took a glancing hit in a battle and ceased to work. Since that day and the single destruction of 4 looted Leman Russ's the gun has never left his side. *'Power Sword, Bolt Pistol and Spare Magazines:' Both Weapons were tokens of victory taken from the Lieutenant he killed with his brother's combat knife. Neither weapon is drawn very often with Barakus preferring to rely more on His Meltagun. *'Life Sensor and Implanted Detonator and Explosives:' This Little Gadget was an idea of Cale's put together and installed by Freddy. To avoid any malfunctions of a heart sensor, he also had implanted a sensor to detect brain activity. Only when both sensors cease to read activity does a self installed explosive device activate with a blast larger than a Demolition Charge. Thin layers of Ceramite protect the explosive. *As well as these items Cale Barakus always carries a couple Lighters and some spare wiring and fuses in the case of a malfunction or modification being necessary. Gloves are not something he wears as he understands the only way to complete a task correctly is to feel what he is doing with his own fingers. A portable medkit, food portions and watercan generally accompany him as essentials. Quotes By Barakus About Barakus Category:Imperial Characters Category:Imperial Guard Characters Category:Characters